Selectors must take share of the blame

Oh dear, it's all gone pear-shaped. That's not me being talked about for once - I am referring to England's one-day performances.

To say we've been disappointing in the NatWest Series is a gross under-statement.

We might have had the worst of the conditions, suffered from injuries, had bad luck with the toss etc, but we simply were not good enough. We had opportunities to win, especially against Pakistan at Lord's where we needed 47 from the last 10 overs with seven wickets in hand. To lose was criminal.

I feel the real problem lies with an inconsistency in some of the selections.

For instance, why was Ben Hollioake discarded three years ago and brought back now when he hasn't really been in any sort of form?

Then Alistair Brown was used as an opener when he is a 'four hitter' in the middle-order, and when he was replaced it was with Owais Shah, who wasn't even in the original squad. It all seems a bit spur-of-the-moment stuff to me.

Those in charge need to make up their minds whether they are after specialists or all-rounders, youth or experience, before it is too late and all the good work done over the last 18 months is undermined.

Enough of my grumbles on that, there is a more serious issue to address - the crowd problems.

Having spent six hours in the Edrich Stand last Tuesday at the England v Pakistan game, courtesy of CricInfo.com, I can tell you that, aside from those bloody horns, I thought the atmosphere was great.